You’re enjoying a nice vape session, and you notice your kit is getting a bit warm. Maybe even uncomfortably hot. First things first, don’t panic!
A little warmth around the tank or pod is totally normal—after all, it has a tiny heater inside. But if your vape gets so hot it’s unpleasant to hold or the vapour feels scorching, that’s a sign something’s up. This guide explains why vapes get hot and shows you exactly how to solve the issue.
TLDR: Why Your Vape Is Hot & How to Fix It Fast
- Your vape is likely hot due to chain vaping (taking too many puffs too quickly) or power settings that are too high for your coil. To fix it, wait 30 seconds between puffs and lower your device’s wattage
- While warmth in the tank/coil is normal, excessive heat, especially from the battery area, is a serious safety concern
First, Are Vapes Supposed to Get Hot?
Yes, it’s normal for the atomiser or tank section of your vape to feel warm during use, as it contains the heating coil. However, your vape should not become uncomfortably hot to the touch, and the battery section should remain cool. Excessive heat that makes the vapour unpleasant or the device hard to hold indicates a problem that needs fixing.
Top reasons why your vape is getting hot
- Chain vaping
- Taking Long Puffs
- Using the Wrong Coil
- Old or Gunked-Up Coil
- Blocked or No airflow
- Wattage is too high
- Battery Issues
Top 7 Reasons Why Your Vape Gets Hot (And The Solutions)
Nine times out of ten, one of these culprits is to blame for your toasty vape.
Cause#1: Chain Vaping
The leading cause for a vape feeling too hot is that you’re enjoying your vaping session a bit too much!
Whenever you fire up your vape and get puffing, it generates heat as part of the atomisation process. If you’re the kind of person who rarely stops puffing or you really like chain vaping, that heat build-up will get noticeable.
How to Fix It: Take breaks of 15-30 seconds between inhales. If you are new to vaping, reading our primer on how to vape can also help you fix a hot vape.
Cause#2: Taking Long Puffs
Similarly to firing up your vape too often, as mentioned above, another cause of a hot vape or coil is puffing or holding down the firing button for too long, putting the coil through a stressful amount of heat exposure.
How to Fix It: Take shorter, gentler draws (about 3–5 seconds) instead of long, hard puffs. Allow a few seconds between each puff so the coil and battery can cool. Remember, prevention is the key to preventing dry hits when vaping.
Cause#3: Using the Wrong Coil
Some coils heat up quicker than others! Generally, any coil with a lower resistance (think lower than 0.8ohms) will put up less of a fight against the electrical charge and will start to heat up before long during a session.
How to Fix It: To avoid this, try using a coil with a higher resistance and see if you can enjoy the more moderate levels of vapour production. If you’re committed to sub-ohm vaping, look into coils with mesh interiors for more even, optimised heat distribution. Keep in mind that if you experience sore throat from vaping, the nicotine strength might be too high.
Cause#4 Old or Gunked-Up Coil
As you may know, all e-liquid contains VG—vegetable glycerin—which is a naturally sourced form of liquid sugar. Over time, the frequent applications of heat from your coil will ‘bake in’ some of that sugar, a bit like the spun sugar at a cotton candy stand. An old, gunked-up coil struggles to heat evenly. This creates nasty “hot spots” that burn your juice and overheat the tank.
What if you have already replaced your coil, but your vape tastes burnt? Well, it could be because you did not prime your coil.
How to Fix It: The solution? Get a new coil! Another thing to look out for is mesh coils; they have a wider surface area for heat distribution, so burnt-in sugar is less common.
Failed to make GET requestCause#5: Blocked or No Airflow
Tightening your adjustable airflow ring or slider will often result in a thinner, more concentrated ‘beam’ of flavour. But all that heat has nowhere to go. It gets trapped inside the tank, and everything heats up.
How to Fix It: Always open the airflow slider enough to get a decent stream of air through it. The airflow will provide a cooling action to the coil.
Cause#6: High Wattage
Your coil is like a tiny oven, and turning the wattage up too high is like setting it to “inferno.” It’s working way too hard for its own good.
How to Fix It: Check the side of your coil for its recommended wattage range (e.g., “20-28W”). Make sure your device is set within that sweet spot. Some advanced kits have a Smart mod that prevents firing outside of the optimal range. Activate this mode, if you have it, to prevent this from occurring again.
Cause#7: Battery Issues
If none of these methods improves the overheating issue you’re facing, you may simply be experiencing a manufacturing issue, such as a malfunctioning battery unit.
How to Fix It: If you’re using a vape with a removable battery cell, such as an 18650 or 21700, you can quickly find out if this is causing the issue by trying a different battery.
Unfortunately, if your device uses an internal battery that you can’t remove, the only fix is to buy a new vape, as the internal batteries cannot be removed or fixed.
Caution: Catastrophic battery failure is rare, but you should take it seriously when dealing with electronic devices. In the instance that your vape is becoming too hot to grip, or if the battery unit is making any hissing sound, take the battery somewhere safe outside and then dispose of it safely once it’s cooled down.
I know this all sounds rather frightening, but luckily, due to how unlikely this is to happen, this advice is probably never needed. However, it’s important to know how to deal with it should it occur.
Diagnosing the Heat: Is Your Tank, Battery, or Vapour Too Hot?
Figuring out what part is hot tells you how serious the problem is.
- If the Tank/Pod is Hot…This is the most common issue and usually the least worrying. It’s almost always caused by one of the four reasons above. Fix the cause, and you’ll fix the heat.
- If the Battery is Getting Hot…STOP. This is the one you need to take seriously. A hot battery is a major safety concern. Stop using the device immediately. It could mean there’s a short circuit or the battery is damaged.
- If the Vapour is Hot on Your Lips…This is usually a simple fix. Your wattage is likely too high, or you’re using a very short mouthpiece (drip tip). Try turning the power down or using a longer drip tip to give the vapour more time to cool.
- If the Vape Tastes Hot or Burnt…Yuck. This almost always means one thing: a dry hit. The cotton inside your coil is dry and burning. It’s time to refill your tank or, if the taste won’t go away, replace it because vape coils don’t last forever.
How to Safely Cool Down an Overheating Vape
- Stop vaping immediately.
- If you can, unscrew the tank from the battery. This lets both parts cool down much faster.
- Let the device rest in a cool, shady spot for at least 10-15 minutes.
- Important: Never put your vape in the fridge or freezer! The sudden cold shock can damage the battery and make your e-liquid thick and sludgy.
What Happens If a Vape Gets Too Hot? Understanding the Risks
Poor Vaping Experience
Overheating leads to harsh, unpleasantly hot vapour and can cause “spitback,” where hot e-liquid spits into your mouth.
Device Damage
Consistently overheating your device can permanently damage your coils, battery, and the electronic chipset.
Battery Safety
This is the most critical risk. An overheating battery can lead to venting (releasing toxic gas) or, in very rare and extreme cases, thermal runaway (fire/explosion).
Keep Your Vape Cool
A warm tank is normal, but a vape that’s hot to the touch is a warning sign that something needs to change.
Always start with the simple fixes: slow down your puffing, check your wattage, and make sure your coil is fresh. But most importantly, pay attention to your battery. If it ever gets hot, stop using it immediately. Your safety is always priority number one.